M'Kyuun

2 hours ago, JB0 said:

Marines, F-35B.

The Navy's F-35C has wider wings(that fold up), and sturdier landing gear for handling catapult launches and arresting wire landings, but no VTOL capability.

I stand corrected. I was thinking the Navy's was the VTOL version, completely forgetting that the Marines have a variant as well. 

If a company were to make a transforming F-35B, I'm curious how they'd work around that forward fan- perhaps a jet pack for the bot mode. That would be my solution.

27 minutes ago, Bolt said:

That is quite the elegant design, indeed. 

I think so, too, and the fact that money has been awarded for a scale demonstrator shows the seriousness of its consideration. I worked on KC-135s for many years; those planes were built in the 60s and many are 60 or turning 60 and slated to fly for at least another decade. I have no experience with the KC-46, the newest tanker based on the Boeing 767, but the fact that the Pentagon is willing to fund development of yet another tanker, one that's rather forward thinking in its shaping and proposed use of hydrogen for fuel with zero emissions indicates open-mindedness that we didn't see back in the late 80s, early 90s when the ATF competition was happening. I applaud that and hope BWB designs become reality within the next decade. 

59 minutes ago, Bolt said:

It's amazing to me that the F-15 is still in service, within the US arsenal. Granted many blocks later, but as far as design, engineering and performance. And still being relevant in the theater of combat. Wow..

The F-15 and F-16 are both impressive aircraft from the 70s, such that they're both flying along with the likes of fifth generation fighters like the F-22 and F-35, and may still be flying with sixth gen. 

Segueing from old to new, I've been looking at blended wing designs and stumbled on Jet Zero's Z5 USAF Tanker concept. Jet Zero Unveils Midmarket Airliner And Air Force Tanker BWB Plan | Aviation Week Network. Knowing how conservative the AF is when it comes to forward thinking designs, after all they passed on the YF-23, oft considered to be the superior design, for the more conventional YF-22, learning that this blended design is actually being considered was pleasantly surprising. I hope it proves out in testing and development and makes it into service, as, from my reading, it seems that blended designs like this are being considered by the commercial developers like Boeing and Airbus as well. Supposedly, they're more economical, using less fuel and featuring more interior space for pax and cargo than the conventional tube and wing design. From an aesthetic POV, IMHO, they're also more elegant and graceful in addition to their utility and economy. I hope I live long enough to fly on one some day.

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A Chinese toy company, no, and generally speaking I don't have a problem buying Chinese toys.  But if said Chinese company is producing the toy under license from Shenyang Aerospace (I *think* it is, I've seen AVIC's logo on some images), and SAC is a division of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (it is), and AVIC is a state-owned company (it is), then money from this toy is going more directly to the PRC.  And again, I'm not interested in making a moral judgement for anyone, but I do think it's something people should be aware of.

I did no background, but your info about its licensing gives serious pause, as it should to anyone in a country targeted one way or another by the PRC. It's a shame, as it's a cool toy, but I'd rather not support the CCCP directly or indirectly.

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Ah, thanks, I went looking at ShowZ and couldn't decipher the actual product name enough to find it.

And yeah, I'm very aware (at a professional level even) of how this aircraft came into existence.  I don't feel like contributing to it either.  It's more a pity to me that it's not an actual F-35, because I would absolutely buy multiples and display them on my desk at work.

All that aside though, the bot mode is kind of all over the place.  It's impressive that it transforms so well, but I'm really not feeling it as a figure.  The panels feel like they're just scattered all over, and the limbs are kind of just boxes floating between them, compared with something like the Zeta movie Blitzwing, which manages to rearrange the whole aircraft into a really solid figure.  I don't think anything has yet matched that one in my eyes as having pulled of a similar level of plastic origami to deliver such a solid jet-former in both modes.

I wish it was a true F-35, too, especially the Navy's F-35C with VTOL capability. I wish we had an American company of talented toy designers who made transformable toys at this level. Alas, Hasbro is the only game in town, and they're sadly not up to the task. It's odd, too, b/c we have a huge Transformers fandom and a decent Robotech/Macross fandom, a lot of very talented artistic and mechanically inclined people, and a growing culture of people doing independent design with 3D printing. One would think some of them would get together and form a company making custom transforming toys. I'd love to be part of something like that, although my skills are meager. However, like Kawamori himself, I could at least create a practical template with LEGO as a proof-of-concept to illustrate the transformation process.

As to the J-35's bot mode, I'm not crazy about the face or the nose gear on its crotch, but otherwise I like the look of its bot mode, especially the leg design. The transformation is quite involved, a bit too much for my liking, but that seems to be the way for a lot of these modern transforming bots. I agree with your assessment of Zeta's Blitzwing- well done in both modes judging by pics. I'm also impressed with Metagate's Red Fantasy (BBM Shatter) for how well they pulled off the vehicle modes, especially the Harrier. Usually, as with both Has/Tak's and Toyworld's versions, the jet mode, as usual, takes the brunt of the compromises; Metagate's car mode, IMHO, suffers more than the Harrier mode. And while the Harrier mode isn't perfectly accurate, it's decently passable, esp from a distance.

30 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Just to clarify, you mean because the FC-31/J-31/J-35 was almost definitely developed with stolen JSF data, right?  Because, for anyone that doesn't know, the Shenyang J-35 is a real Chinese fighter, and I do believe this figure is licensed.  You guys do what you want, I'm not judging, but for me personally I'm a bit hesitant to contribute to the Chinese military.

I don't know if contributing to a Chinese toy company furthers the CCCP's agenda, although I get what you're saying in principle. I'm not at all a fan of the Chinese government or their shady practices, but as to the talents of the Chinese people, there's no question. The Japanese may have invented the transforming toy, but over the last decade or so, Chinese toymakers have dominated the market with their many third- and fourth-party companies as well as the add-on/upgrades markets. While I confess to being tempted, I'm likely not going to buy this; that said, I felt it was worth posting simply as a showcase of what can be done with a modern jetformer, as this should be the standard and not the exception. It's still not the standard even among most 3P jetformers, but my hope is that this will inspire the other companies, Takara included, to step up their games. Takara's MP-52 is a travesty writ large in comparison, just shameful.

As for Kawamori, he's been looking down his nose at all these other companies making crappy jetformers since 1982. Too bad more companies didn't follow his long and venerable lead.

Just discovered this today. This is an excellent example of how a transforming jet should be executed. Bit involved, and the weapons bay partsforms, but otherwise, it's a brilliant bit of engineering resulting in a cool looking bot and a jet mode that looks realistic from all angles with little to give away its transformative nature.

22 minutes ago, Shawn said:

The Tamashi Nations show is on the 17th, so in just 11 more days we should hopefully see some more pictures from the displays and see the current version in development.

Digits crossed that there are improvements, but at this stage I doubt it. Gonna get it anyway. 😜

Well, at this point, I think we all agree that this doesn't share the same level of polish as their VF-19 Advance/ YF-19. From my standpoint as a battroid guy, it fixes the main issue I had with the Yamato- the too-thin legs. However, it still has issues that could certainly do with tweaks, but at this point I think we're getting what we're seeing. Is it better than no YF-21 toy at all? IMHO, yep.

Edit: Sometimes it helps to read what you've written to ensure you're expressing your thoughts properly. Initially I didn't. Fixed.

6 minutes ago, Reïvaj said:

Is it me or Macross toys are getting more and more complex and detailed lately?

Just toys in general. Many Transformers toys these days have this kind of detail in panels and even in some of the hollow areas in arms and legs where they're conserving plastic. I love detail, especially molded detail, so it's a practice I welcome. Of course, if the toy is crap but has a ton of nice detail, it's essentially a gilded turd, so there's always that situation. 😄

4 hours ago, Test_Pilot_2 said:

The Osprey is really cool, my mind is blown at all of it frankly. It's like you took my childhood shenanigans with my jank lego robots and realized them - but as anti-jank. Full transparency, I'm trying to solve for how you built the Glaug since I'm pretty sure that is the only way to get a physical version of it for my collection and the fighter mode looks fantastic.

I'm struggling to process how you fit that much functionality into such a tight package. I don't want to digress much further from Bandai's YF-22 here, but as nice (and controversial) as the 22 is, your Glaug really stole the show for me.

This has to be one of the nicest compliments I've ever received for any of my LEGO MOCs, and I thank you most kindly.  

Getting back OT, I hope Bandai makes some sort of PO announcement soon. Warts be damned, we've waited far too long for a new YF-21 and overall, as I've said since this thing was frst intro'd, I'll take it as-is if only b/c the battroid proportions look better to me, at least so far as the legs go.  That said, I'd be thrilled to no end if Arcadia tweaked the nigh-perfect Yamato design to have thicker legs that look more proportionally correct even if it means the jet has a slightly fatter back end; that's a concession I'll take all day long. 

12 hours ago, rematron said:

Thanks for the link, @dtwn!

@M'Kyuun, that’s some really amazing work. Inspiring! I’ve been a big fan of Legos since forever and you’ve taken them to an awesome level!

12 hours ago, Paco Grande said:

Amazing! Great job!

10 hours ago, Test_Pilot_2 said:

The Glaug is fantastic!

9 hours ago, Shawn said:

Concur-that Glaug is awesome (and the monster and the vf-4 etc), great work!

Massive thanks to each of you for your compliments. More than most, your knowledge and passion for Macross adds weight to your praise, and I'm touched and humbled. I hope I inspire.

@rematronIf you ever have an opportunity to go to BrickCon, a huge AFOL organized LEGO convention now being held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue in the fall, I generally attend every year and bring all my transforming LEGO models. It'd be my great pleasure to meet a fellow MWer and perhaps show off a MOC or two. 😁

2 hours ago, MKT said:

The transforming Osprey chopper is pretty cool too. 

Means a lot to me. My VV-1 is a custom design with obvious inspiration taken from the V-22 Osprey. I worked on realizing it for about a decade, but that helicopter cockpit piece became the nexus around which I was finally able to bring my vision to physical fruition. I consider it my magnum opus. As such, compliments are especially meaningful and you have my gratitude.

14 hours ago, dtwn said:

I've seen your stuff on Reddit. Props to you! They're great! The Variable Glaug in particular is brilliant. 

Wow, thanks! Really kind compliment.

On 10/25/2023 at 10:44 PM, mikeszekely said:

It's a licensed car, too, though I guess not too many people here will be familiar with Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor Co (GAC), or in this case their subsidiary Trumpchi.  Last time I was over there, GAC was one of the domestic brands I saw a lot of, along with BYD, Changan, BAIC, and Wuling, but at that time imports were much more common.  I haven't been there since before then pandemic, but I've heard that electric cars are more popular there now.  Tesla is apparently super popular there, but domestic brands like BYD, Xpeng, and Nio that got in on electrification early have enjoyed a surge.  Anyway, that one there would be the Empow, a 168HP turbocharged i4 sedan.  It's designed to appear kind of sporty yet practical... kind of like a Nissan Maxima or a Kia Stinger, but with way less actual performance.  I have no idea how well the Empow sells in China, but I've heard they're kind of popular in the Philippines.  

Well, enough about that.  For the toy, quite frankly, I think it's impressive as heck that they managed to get a licensed car that looks that good to turn into a Shenyang J-11 (a Chinese KO of a Su-27), even with the visible kibble on the belly, and a third cat mode on top of it.

On 10/27/2023 at 3:32 AM, JB0 said:

For a triple-changer, that's damned impressive. Off-hand, I don't see any evidence of jet on the car or Not-Ravage. And the pile of garbage under the plane is more forgivable in a three-mode toy(and frankly, more effort was expended on the jet's underside than most TWO-MODE jet-robos.)

As a vocal critic of most jetformers, given that this triple changes, and that the car mode looks incredible, the jet mode isn't as compromised as we often see in single alt mode jetformers, which speaks to the level of engineering. Obviously, it's not perfect; those intakes are wider than the chines, hang too low with an obvious gap, and just don't really look like intakes, TBH. From the side, it suffers, and it's a shame they couldn't find a way to improve it. From the bottom, the car bits are obvious destroying any illusion. However, I do like how everything packs up compactly on the bottom; it's a shame they didn't make it all snug up closer to the bottom of the plane, but, considering its nature, I give props for making it as good as they did. It's a cool concept, reminding me of Binaltech/Alternators Ravage, who converted into a licensed Jaguar and didn't have to contend with a second alt mode. IMHO, the designers did a pretty good job overall, and even the jet mode looks ok, especially, as most do, from above.

1 hour ago, rematron said:

Fair point but we all have to agree that the YF-21 has a whole new special kind of anime magic necessary when it comes to those big legs disappearing into the sleek fighter.  It is, after all, the only one of Kawanori-san's designs that doesn't utilize the 'intake/engine/thruster = leg' format which enables him to 'hide' the legs in plain sight.  Even the line art and drawings I've seen don't really address how the big legs fit into the little space under the belly plates without squishing the fairly large engines up top.  Not a problem for the VF-1.  I wonder if the design was sort of a personal challenge for Kawamori-san to see if he could break away from the 'legs=engine nacelles' formula.

My defense for the Yamato design has always been that if it were 'real life', big legs wouldn't be necessary to make the mech mobile in battroid because the lift would still be generated by the 'backpack/engines and that would be the majority of the control for its lateral or vertical movement with the legs acting more like kickstands - sort of like an Appollo lunar lander or the legs of a mosquito.  This is to say nothing of how the legs look or support the weight of the TOY.  It's just my brain making a reason for this toy to look the way it does as if I were playing with it in deep imagination mode.

The Bandai design is sort of a different Macross universe in my mind where they (General Galaxy) decided that the legs needed to be big and beefy and agile for whatever reason (in case the engines break down and it still needs to be mobile?) And they (Bandai) tackled the question of what the plane would actually look like if it needed beefy legs AND engines.

Just my personal take on it.  Cheers and happy Halloween from the west side of Washington State.

Cheers from eastern WA! 😄

On point observation regarding the 21's design. Of all his valks, this is the only one I can think of that's essentially a shellformer. And yet, even with that additional cheat, the design still suffers from an inordinate amount of animation magic to achieve its proportions between modes. 

This is the line art for the leg transformation. as you can see, the legs are indeed supposed to turn laterally for storage in fighter, but as you can also see, the lower legs are visibly shrunken to fit them within the confines of the aft fuselage. I never understood why Kawamori-san even bothered with the belly plates, why he didn't just tuck the legs in battroid config up into the engine nacelles, or why he didn't have the lower legs, turned sideways, feature some sort of panel fu to lessen their width and to cover more space on the bottom of the plane. Any of those options would have been better than those abominable belly plates. I hate those things with a passion. Note that he doesn't give a very clear idea of how the arm armatures work either; it's more suggestion than a clear mechanical design. This thing was fudged from the word go, all to have it be reminiscent of the Queadluun Rau, which I can appreciate given Guld's Zentraedi lineage, but the design approach was uncharacteristically hamfisted. It's little wonder that proportions tend to be an issue for toymakers. FWIW, I doubt Yamato's will ever be surpassed in its fighter mode- it's simply gorgeous. but then, that was obviously the primary focus of the design, and they executed it very well. I wish they'd compromised the thinness of the fighter just enough to allow for larger legs, but they didn't. I'd still welcome a retool of that design with larger legs and hopefully more robust hip joints. That, IMHO, would be a nigh-perfect YF-21 toy. I'm a battroid guy, so Bandai is winning me over with their version, even it, too, has its warts.

7 hours ago, rematron said:

Honestly, I'm really getting used to Bandai's vision of the YF-21 and its proportions.  It reminds me a little of an F-35 in the nose, canopy and forward fuselage. in this rendition.  I'm looking forward to the PO and getting one in my hands and on my shelf. 

Here's a thought: What if this mecha had been imagined and designed within the last few years using computer graphics instead of hand drawn and therefor wasn't using nearly as much anime magic to pull off its presentation in various modes?  Would we have gotten something more like this in the first place? 

It may be improved upon in the future and I'd welcome that but I'm super excited to get this version now.  Being a watcher of Macross back in its incarnation with DYRL, Macross Plus got me back into the franchise when it came out and the YF-21 has been one of my favorite valks ever since. 

Considering that Kawamori-san still does his designs by hand, my thinking is that it likely would have turned out the same way. CAD existed in the mid-90s when he did the M+ designs, but he's a traditional artist who seems to prefer drawing by hand. Given that a number of his designs have been translated into toys, I don't know if he draws with that in mind, but as you said, even with Frontier and likely Delta, there's still some animation magic involved, and likely always will be.

In that regard, I give props to Yamato/Arcadia and Bandai for translating those drawings into fully functional transforming toys. Having translated Kawamori-san's Variable Glaug, VF-4, and VB-6 Konig Monster into fully transformable LEGO models, I understand the challenges involved.

1 minute ago, no3Ljm said:

I wonder if the back portion (backpack) in fighter mode would help the design to become slimmer if the legs rotate like in Yamato's when stored in Fighter mode.

Doubtful. I've always thought it a waste on other YF-21 toys/models not to use those large engine bays to store the legs in fighter mode; it just makes more sense to me to do that than to lay them on their sides despite that being the way it's done in Kawamori's very skewed lineart. This valk design, more than most, relies heavily on animation magic to optimize it aesthetically from mode to mode, and I have zero issues utilizing cool engineering solutions, or just what's given in the design itself, to make the whole work more elegantly and aesthetically.

I wish the hips sat just a little lower in battroid, that the forearms were a little longer and thicker, and that they employed a more attractive elbow joint. However, overall, I think it's a pretty decent looking YF-21. I love the leg foreshortening solution (ingenious, indeed) and the halved belly plates in battroid/GERWALK. The backpack is a bit thick, too, but if the thing can hold itself up without the hip joints just going floppy, that'll be a win over the Yamato. Likewise the more appropriate leg proportions. There are other minor proportional issues, but they don't bother me as much as they do others here. Def will get a copy when it goes up for PO. Hopefully, like all the other recent Macross valks, this one will have availability through US e-tailers. It's been a long wait for a 1/60 YF-21 option besides the Yammie, and I hope this thing at least has effective joints to make up for some of its other shortcomings.

I think Evan is mitigating a bit when he says they made WfC game Starscream's canopy "slightly" larger than the game art; it's notably quite larger than it should be compared to the game art, and to the OG toy, which was more accurate. I may still get a copy, but the canopy is too big and the wrong shape and the wings look too small. Evan explains that the canopy was enlarged to accommodate the head, which beggars the question of why they didn't follow the OG's transformation schema to keep that forward fuselage looking more accurate to the game art. 

9 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I preordered Magmatron and Code Red.  I have no attachment to Magmatron, but he's such a weird concept.  Plus, if they do eventually do Big Convoy I'll want Magmatron to fight him, so... yeah.  

Not surprised in the least😄, and knowing you're a Prime collector, I'm sure Big Convoy is on your eventual 'want' list.

9 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

 Spoilers, one of those G1 minibots you're waiting for is coming, as well as a G1 Targetmaster and a G1 triplechanger. 

Hmm, interest piqued, especially for the Mini and the triple-changer. I believe there's a rumor that we're getting G1 Sandstorm, so that's my expectation then. We haven't had a proper triple-changer of that character since the T30 Generations fig back in 2013, which, of course, was a heavy retool of the IDW-inspired Springer figure, arguably one of the best triple-changers Has/Tak has ever made. Apropos of nothing, Joe Kyde was a designer at Hasbro who worked on T30 Springer; he would later work for LEGO and design the Optimus Prime set.

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

No, it's Armada Tidal Wave.  He's featured in the artwork from Pulsecon.  I know some fans are a bit upset that he's "too big" (and may very well be, based on Armada's scaling), but parts of him will still be able to come off and attach to Megatron/Galvatron, and as someone who has fond memories of the PS2 game I'm very down for Tidal Wave being huge.

Ah, ok, I misheard or misinterpreted what Mark and BMac were saying about it. In that case, easy pass, money and space saved.

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

In Studio Series?  Wouldn't they have had to appear is some form of Transformers media?

Oh no, not in SS86. Sorry if I gave that impression. As part of Legacy, though, yes. I have for Omnis at some point given that Evan Brooks also mentioned an interest in doing them during PulseCon, IIRC. I figure if the designers are interested in characters enough, they'll eventually convince their superiors to let them realize them as toys. My digits are doubly crossed.

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Hate to burst your bubble, but I wouldn't count seeing any of that tomorrow.  If they reveal the whole first wave, it should be:

  Hide contents

Core-class The Last Knight Mohawk
Core-class Bumblebee Rumble
Deluxe-class Rise of the Beasts Wheeljack
Deluxe-class Rise of the Beasts Scorponok
Voyager-class 86 Scrapheap
Voyager-class War for Cybertron Starscream
Leader-class Bumblebee Megatron

Don't lose heart, though.  That's just wave 1, currently scheduled for February.  Wave 2, hitting in April, should have 86 Swoop.

Well, out of that entire list, only WfC Starscream holds any interest, and only minor interest at that. For the most part, I wasn't too jazzed for the majority of the game character designs; I like Bee, FoC Prime (my fave of all the game designs), and the Dinobots.  I didn't bother getting the new Legacy WfC Bee, as I prefer the original fig over the new one, and I never really cared for the WfC Prime design, although I'll admit the Legacy fig's bot mode looks pretty nice. I bought Thundercracker back in the day, the only WfC game Seeker I own and I think it's an ok fig. I like its Macross VF-1-ish transformation, where the arms tuck between the legs rather than just hanging out alongside the fuselage like most of Has/Tak's crappy jet modes. I'm curious, not really in a good way, to see how the new fig differs in its approach. Folks are already complaining about the size of its canopy, so I'm guessing it's not going to be seen as favorably as Bee or Prime . I'm curious about the transformation schema and whether or not they hid the arms like the OG toy. Shouldn't have to wait too much longer, and with that, I'm off to bed. A pleasant good Saturday morning to all!

21 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Don't forget Midnight Mass, I think it's on Netflix. Oh and Gerald's Game, after Stephen King's novel, is pretty good, too.

Gerald's Game I've seen (and read), but yeah, I neglected to add Midnight Mass to my previous post. I'm planning on watching it, too. Seems Mike Flanagan has a real talent for translating written works, taking elements from various stories by a writer, and incorporating them in a compelling and fitting manner. I think it'd be interesting if he did something Lovecraftian or based on the works of H.G. Wells, although horror seems to be more to Mr. Flanagan's interest. Still, I'd love to see him venture into sci-fi.

Speaking of which, I'll recommend Tales from the Loop on Prime inspired by the artwork of Simon Stalenhag. I was unfamiliar with Stalenhag's work until stumbling upon this show, but the latter intrigued me sufficiently to research the former, and I found both to be quite enjoyable. While the directors/production team did an amazing job of realizing and implementing elements of Stalenhag's art throughout the episodes, it's the depth of the human stories told throughout the show that make it stand out still in my mind.  I highly recommend giving it a watch. On a side note, Mr. Stalenhag has published other art, and I'd love to see a continuation of this series if the prod values and writing remain on par.

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Finally, the Transformers part of 10/27 started (preorders are at 5:00pm EDT for Pulse Premium members, 6:00 for everyone else).  And they're coming out swinging, with Commander-class Magmatron.  It's interesting that they're not only investing the Commander slot for the year on a Japanese-only series, but that they're saying that they're specifically going for cartoon over toy colors.  Hopefully we'll get a Big Convoy to go with him.

Voyager (Beast Wars) Silverbolt.  Takara leaked it as Wave 1 for Legacy Unite in Japan, but they're confirming what I told you guys awhile back, it'll be wave 2 in the US.  Don't expect preorders for Silverbolt until Hasbro reveals the rest of wave 2, they just wanted to confirm that you don't have to import the Takara one. 

Stranger Things X Transformers Code Red.  This one was revealed awhile ago and I kind of forgot about it.  Limited quantities at Pulse, it's actually destined to be a Target exclusive.  Comes in a pizza box.

The Studio Series announcements won't be coming until tomorrow at MCM Comicon.

I'm a Stranger Things fan, so I POed a copy of the Surfer Boy Pizza vanformer. It's a bit of a weird crossover (I actually would have expected them to do Hopper's truck, but IMHO this has more personality). love the packaging they did for this- great presentation. $44 is a bit steep for a deluxe fig, but 'exclusivity' has its price. 😒 At least it's an original mold.

As a BW fan, I'm also down for Silverbolt when he's eventually available. I never cared for the Fuzors overall, but Silverbolt was such a standout character in the show that he's a must to put alongside Blackarachnia.

I like dinosaurs, but I have no familiarity with BW: Neo, so my interest is a little low for Magmatron. I do think they did a pretty amazing job on those dino modes, though. The bot mode is kinda so-so to me, but I appreciate what was required engineering wise to make him a three-part combiner. It's a given that a Big Convoy fig is coming, so that's cool for fans. Sounds like the upcoming titan class fig is likely coming from Neo as well.

Looking forward to revelations from London Comic Con this weekend. Hopefully SS86 Swoop will be among them. I'd love to see Omnibots revealed, but I'm not holding my breath. There are still a number of G1 Minibots MIA in the deluxe upscaling, so Gears, Windcharger, Powerglide, and Seaspray are welcome additions. A new improved SS86 Seeker with a more accurate F-15 mode would be great, too. I'd love a Fall of Cybertron game version of Optimus in voyager scale (still love my little deluxe fig from years ago, but an upscaled and hopefully more detailed version is most welcome). I'd also love an improved G1 Mirage fig in Legacy, as the WFC fig left somewhat to be desired. Til then, my beloved Classics Mirage is filling the void, just as my nigh-perfect Classics Hound is filling that position. While I think the Legacy Hound mold is really well done (and I wish Target would just release the damned thing already!!!), I still have a preference for the Classics fig- it was just so brilliantly executed that it always remains in my mind as the Hound to beat. Anyway, I hope there are some pleasant surprises coming in the G1 and Animated realms.

On 10/25/2023 at 8:21 PM, Bolt said:

The Fall Of The House Of Usher.. woah!

The dark subject was a lot to take in. But i loved the Poe references and the social commentary. 
Not for the faint of heart, but well done.

The acting was great. And I especially loved Mark Hamill. 

Agree! My wife and I just watched it last weekend and we both really enjoyed it. I'm definitely planning on watching the other Mike Flanagan shows on Netflix based on the works of classic horror writers: The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

In the meantime, I just finished watching Mech Cadets on Netflix. Given the rather generic title, I expected another trope-ridden, poorly written anime-wannabe show, but it was much better than I thought it'd be. The animation looks a little shaky/stilted at first, to me anyway, but seems to smooth out as I watch it. The show definitely has some good representation with the majority of the characters of non-white ethnicity and well animated as such. Too, the voice cast is also ethnically diverse to match their characters. While the main story arc revolves around the typical mecha vs kaiju dynamic, the main draw of the show has to do with the relationships between characters and their motivations. There's a little more to it than that, but I don't wanna spoil it. Anyway, I thought the writing and delivery of the dialog was really well-done with a decent, if a bit overused, plot. I hope it gets a second season.

After finishing Mech Cadets, I started watching another new release on Netflix, an anime called Pluto, which I'm really enjoying. Again, superb writing, interesting characters, and an interesting plot all conspire to make it a compelling watch, IMHO. I'm only three eps in (eps are about an hour long) and I'm hooked. My understanding is that it takes place within the Astro Boy Universe, but it seems to be its own thing with characters animated in typical realistic style rather than the toony AB style. It's essentially a murder mystery set in a world where robots are quite advanced, some nigh indistinguishable from humans, where seven of the most advanced robots as well as human advocates of robots are systematically being killed in a particular fashion and one of those seven robots is the detective assigned to the case. Great watch so far.

On 10/16/2023 at 4:41 PM, Hikuro said:

My SS86 Magnus just arrived this afternoon, and boy do I like it. I'm very much happy that I entirely passed on either the Seige or Earthrise versions as this guy is just fantastic. I do agree with what a lot of people think about the width of the arms being so far out from the upper body, but I can forgive it since there's a lot of panel compression going on as well....you gotta have some kind of a compromise I suppose. 
I didn't get to play to much with my MP variant I bought a couple of months ago, but to me, the SS86 release feels more solid, not the least bit flimsy or loose in any way. I'm going to be really looking forward to the Toyhax labels that I'm sure will really enhance the overall look of the figure 10 fold, namely around the cab, it's very drab and plain. 

Mine arrived today, a day earlier than expected, thank you Fed Ex. I mentioned my anticipation for this fig earlier, and overall, he exceeds expectations, especially in bot mode where he really shines. The wide arms don't bother me at all. My gripes are primarily for the vehicle mode- ground clearance isn't the best on my copy, as some of the wheels float; the lack of integrated storage for his guns despite having a large alt mode with options for the designers beyond just pegging them onto the outsides of the forearms; unpainted fuel tanks and exhaust pipes; extremely limited turn radius for the cab (they did a much better job with the CW version), top deck is pretty narrow compared to Autobot cars, and forward part of lower deck, i.e. the accordioning panels that form his shoulders, is also too narrow for most of the Autobot cars to pass through limiting the trailer's overall carry capacity. However, being pragmatic, the bot mode was the obvious focus here, and in virtually all aspects, Has/Tak nailed it. The only real negative I have is the lack of ratchets in the shoulder abduction joints; while the flexion joints have nice strong ratchets, the abduction joints are merely pinned which provide far too little friction to maintain the arms' poses. It's a crappy oversight in an otherwise incredible figure.

I'll also say the instructions have really small illustrations and I initially missed the part where you position the double knee joint for trailer mode, so things on the trailer weren't lining up for me. I figured it out and then consulted the instructions for verification, but I'll admit it had me stumped for a minute.

Despite a few warts, I think this will go down as the best official G1 version of the character for many years to come.

I'll preface by conceding that I've never been much of an Ultra Magnus fan, at least the character. I thought the G1 toy was significantly hindered, like most of them, in the articulation department, and he just never really appealed to me. However, I love his alt mode, and I thought that was the best feature of the G1 toy, i.e. his ability to haul 3 or 4 Autobots on his trailer, as well as the tilting upper deck for realistic loading. Skip ahead to the post millennial years, and I was one of the few who liked the MP-22 mold, although I got the Delta Magnus recolor simply b/c I prefer its color scheme. I very much like, and own, the Combiner Wars version (I like the stylistic IDW touches), and the brilliant SS86 version is enroute as I type, ETA Wednesday, but it's FedEx so I'm not holding my breath. I think SS86 UM is arguably going to be the definitive G1 update for some time; Has/Tak delivered a really polished figure, based on @mikeszekely's excellent review, as well as other reviews I've watched on YT. I'm definitely looking forward to having him in hand and messing about with him. 

14 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Trailers are just too long these days...

They more often than not give too much away, leaving little in the way of surprises. Too, I've found some trailers to be more enticing than the actual films. I feel that way about The Creator, for which I had a strong enthusiasm although the film left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed, at least story-wise. The visuals were lovely, though. Kudos to ILM and Weta Workshop.